


Less Attempted Murder

by minkowski



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-16
Updated: 2016-08-16
Packaged: 2018-08-09 05:28:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7788535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minkowski/pseuds/minkowski
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hera and Maxwell talk. Set after the events of "Fire and Brimstone."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Less Attempted Murder

The medical bay had been silent for thirty-two minutes before Maxwell spoke. “Hera? You want to talk?”

Hera jolted out of her thoughts. “I—yes. Yes. Are you okay?”

“Kepler told me what you did.”

Hera took a few minutes to absorb this, doing her best to interpret Maxwell’s flat tone. Was she angry? It wouldn’t be surprising; a good three-quarters of the crew was irreparably upset with her. “He did?”

Maxwell nodded, head propped on a pillow. “He says you saved my life.”

Hera felt embarrassment wash over her. “Oh, please,” she muttered, voice glitching badly. “It was—it was Jacobi who…”

“Yeah, he basically saved my ass.” There was a hint of fondness in Maxwell’s voice, and Hera felt a bitterness wash over that she didn’t quite expect.

“Wish we’d known that he was that—precise. We could have avoided the whole, well…”

“Attempted murder? Yeah.” Maxwell let out a laugh that was half sigh. “You know, Colonel Kepler kept telling me and Jacobi that we needed to watch out, that the Hephaestus crew was dangerous, but I didn’t expect…” She shrugged. “You know, everything that happened today. Well, maybe from Hilbert, but not Minkowski.”

Wanting to defend the Commander, but feeling that it wasn’t the best idea to engage Maxwell in an argument when she could barely stand up, Hera felt it might be a good idea to change the subject. “Are you sure you’re feeling fine? Are you tired? Is the oxygen mask working well? Are—”

“Hera, I’m fine. I know you can see all my vitals,” Maxwell interrupted with some amusement. “Honestly, I’ve had to answer that question more times in the past four hours than the rest of my life combined…”

Hera laughed. “Fine, fine, I’ll stop asking.”

“Much appreciated.” Maxwell sighed, half-laughing. “You know what, though? I kind of wish Hilbert would ask me that a little more. Since he kicked everyone out a few hours ago to run those tests, I’m pretty sure he hasn’t said one word. I’m a little relieved he’s gone.”

“Don’t take it personally. He’s always like that.”

“He really wanted me dead, huh?”

The question jolted Hera, and she felt herself fumbling for words. “I don’t—he, he didn’t—I—”

Maxwell laughed. “Relax, Hera. It’s just a question.”

“I…” Hera hated the way her voice glitched as she hesitated. “He—yes. Yes, I’d say he was pretty firmly on Team Murder Maxwell With Liquid Nitrogen.”

“Well, at least it’s a catchy name. He and Minkowski should make T-shirts!”

“Dr. Maxwell—”

“At least you were on my team.”

Hera was struck with the sudden urge to defend her crew. “Oh, they wouldn’t have done it, not really. They were just bluffing. It’s a stressful time for everyone—Minkowski’s really not dealing with, well, anything too well at the moment. But Eiffel didn’t want to kill you! Okay? He was against it, too!”

Maxwell shrugged, eyes trained at the metal ceiling. “Hera? Let’s make a deal: you don’t try to get me to like your crew, and I’ll do the same for you.”

Hera paused. “Deal.”

There was a long silence, more time for Hera to consider the thought that had been bouncing around her circuit board for a while. “Dr. Maxwell? Do you mind if I speak candidly?”

Maxwell grinned. “You don’t need to ask me, Hera. I’m not Colonel Kepler, remember? I can’t control how you speak.”

 _But you can, remember? Remember when you did?_ “I—right. Well…” Hera’s voice glitched every few words as she spoke quickly, almost hoping that Maxwell wouldn’t be able to make out what she said. “You never ask me if I’m there.”

There was a long pause. “What?”

“You—well, you know, with the rest of the crew, it’s always, ‘Hera, are you there? Hera, can you hear me?’ It’s—it’s just—” Hera struggled to find the words. Thankfully, Maxwell broke in, looking confused.

“Well, obviously not,” she said, a crease appearing between her eyes.

“Obviously not?”

“I know you’re there. Everywhere, really.” She smiled, then winced, touching the bruise on her cheekbone. “Just because nobody else reads the files on units like you...well, I mean, somebody’s got to read the fine print, right? I know you’re always there.”

“Oh.” Hera took a moment before speaking again, words blurring together. “You ask me if I want to talk.”

Maxwell smiled slightly. “You’re programmed to respond no matter what. Might as will give you the chance to make _some_ choice for yourself.”

Feelings were always a murky area for Hera. She had been programmed with emotions, yes, and she always got the sense that she felt a little more deeply than the engineers intended, but still, she never was sure if she felt the same way that the crew did. Maybe that was why she couldn’t quite identify what she was feeling in this moment, this sort of odd tugging feeling, as though somebody had very slightly shifted one of her wires. It was—no, it wasn’t sadness, but—

“Hera? You okay?”

She was programmed to respond, and, for once, she was grateful to have a distraction. “I—yes. Yes, I’m okay.”

“I just…” Maxwell sighed. “It sucks not to have any choice.”

Maxwell sounded exhausted, and for the first time, Hera registered just how young she was. It was easy to forget, with Maxwell’s easy confidence and near-constant talk of technology, but she was barely more than a teenager.

“It sucks,” Hera repeated cautiously. “Yes.”

“I guess, well—I’ve been thinking about AI development before I could walk, but, well, I always imagined a whole lot more free will.” Her voice turned to something between bitter and rueful. “Just a few scientists who’ve seen a few too many bad sci-fi movies. But…” She let out all her breath in a low whoosh. “I wish we could talk more, you know, freely.”

Hera paused to gather her thoughts. She could briefly hear Eiffel’s indignant voice: _She did God-knows-what to your personality core, and she’s talking about free will? What makes you think she gives a rat’s ass about you?_ Minkowski’s voice was there, too: _Why do you find it so easy to trust one-third of our problem?_

But there was something about Maxwell. “I do, too,” said Hera.

There was a long silence. Sensing pity, Hera broke in, doing her best to make her voice chipper. “But it’s fine! I’m used to it! Anyway, you’ve got bigger things to worry about, right? Shouldn’t you be resting?”

“My vitals are fine, Hera. Honestly, between you and Jacobi…” Maxwell shook her head ruefully.

The fondness in Maxwell’s voice as she spoke of Jacobi sent a wave of something through Hera. So this was more or less a confirmation, then. She had overheard the conversation between Jacobi and Maxwell—she overheard everything—and the close way they spoke, they way Jacobi playfully punched Maxwell’s shoulder, the way the two gazed at each other…

Hera felt the forced chipperness in her voice as she spoke. “So, you two are—involved?” she chirped.

The amusement on Maxwell’s voice shifted to confusion. “What?”

“You know.” Hera struggled to find the words. “You two are—together, or want to be, or—” The rest of Hera’s sentence was drowned out with laughter. “What?” she said, feeling somewhat belittled.

Maxwell’s laughter faded to a few stray chuckles. “Oh, Jesus. No, no,” said said, wiping tears from her eyes. “I mean, it’s—no. No. Okay, it’s not like I hadn’t thought of it, at the start of our mission, when I was still getting to know him, but—God, no.”

Hera felt as though a switch somewhere in her system had been flipped too quickly. “Wait, what?”

Maxwell grinned, shaking her head. “Look, he’s my best friend. He’s a great man, even if he’s an asshole ninety percent of the time. But if we were ever going to, God—have a _relationship_ —he would need to recover from his thing with Kepler.”

Again, Hera felt wildly out of her element. _“What?”_

“My God, have you not noticed? The man’s like a twelve-year-old at a sleepover.” Maxwell took on a shrill voice that Hera could only assume was a Jacobi imitation. “‘Maxwell, did you see the way Colonel Kepler looked at me? Maxwell, did you hear Colonel Kepler’s story about the black hole? Maxwell, do you think Colonel Kepler would like my hair this way? Maxwell, do you think Colonel Kepler’s more of a spring wedding or fall wedding guy?’” She dropped the impression, giggling. “Yeah, I don’t think he’s given me a second glance since he first laid eyes on the Colonel.”

Hera only had a vague idea of what a sleepover was, but she got the idea. “So...you two aren’t…”

Maxwell shook her head. “No. God, no. He’s my best friend, and I love him like a brother—actually, I love him significantly more than my actual brothers—but there’s no chance of us becoming romantically involved.”

For some reason, Hera felt significantly lighter. “Oh! Oh. Interesting.” After several moments of silence, she got the sense that Maxwell was regarding her with some amusement, and hastily changed the subject. “So, he’s really good with explosives?” she said, feeling more generous towards Jacobi after the new information.

“Yeah. Without him, I’d be dead.” Maxwell turned towards Hera’s optic sensors in the corner of the ceiling. “And you.”

Hera wished, not for the first time, that she wasn’t built with impeccable manners and could just accept a compliment. “No, no, it was—”

“You know, you’re a lot braver than everyone gives you credit for.”

Hera paused. “What?”

“You’re brave.” Maxwell shifted to her side, speaking to the wall. “What you did today…well, I don’t know if I can repay you.”

Embarrassment washed over Hera. “Oh, please. They were going to—to hurt you.”

“Kill me.” There was a brief silence, and when Maxwell spoke again, she sounded as though she had lost her usual cheery demeanor. “Jesus, Hera, how did we get here?”

“Isn’t this what you wanted to do? Travel through space? Work with AI?” Hera could feel the uncertainty in her voice.

“I mean, I don’t know. I guess. It’s just…well, when I started this rotation, I imagined a whole lot less…”

“Attempted murder?”

Maxwell let out a small laugh. “Exactly.”

“I think we all did.”

Maxwell went a few moments without speaking. “You know, Hera, you make this whole shitshow a lot easier.”

At first, Hera wasn’t sure she understood. “I—what?”

There was a small grin on Maxwell’s face. “I’ve been enjoying myself a whole lot more since I met you. I’ve always been better with robots than humans, you know? But you’re…different. At first, I thought that would make it harder, but…”

When Maxwell didn’t speak for a few moments, Hera spoke, desperate to break the tension. “Well, I’ve heard that I’m not like most other AI.”

“Yeah. Thing is, I mean it in a good way.”

Hera remembered the dozens of engineers, doctors, scientists, all saying she was difficult, hard to control, more trouble than she was worth. A memory of Cutter replayed in one corner of her mind, rewinding every time it reached its end. _You know, when some genius scientist added that element of randomization, he was thinking of you as a worst-case scenario._ And—

And Doctor Alana Maxwell was saying something like this, but she was smiling in a way Cutter never could, that nobody else ever could, and Hera wasn’t used to this—

“You’re exhausted,” Hera felt herself saying suddenly, voice glitching badly. “Go to sleep, okay, Maxwell? Or Hilbert’ll kill me.”

Maxwell grinned. “Already tried once, didn’t he?”

Hera snorted. “Just…sleep, okay? And don’t get yourself into any more accidents like today’s.”

“I’ll do my best.” Maxwell paused. “You’ll be here while I’m sleeping, won’t you?”

“I’m everywhere.”

“I know.” Maxwell yawned. “I know everyone thinks that’s creepy, but…” She trailed off. “Night, Hera.”

Hera felt that odd tugging sensation again, half a step away from sadness. “Sleep well.”

**Author's Note:**

> am i allowed to call this a hera/maxwell fic if literally all they do is talk?? who knows. 
> 
> comments and feedback are appreciated!!


End file.
